Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

Somewhere in the woods of Pennsylvania

Lara stared into the dirty brown water pooled at the bottom of a chipped mug, closed her eyes and pretended it was a bowl of the rich vegetable soup her nana used to make especially for her. She took a sip and groaned.

The sound echoed through the stillness of the woods and startled not only Lara, but her companions as well. She hadn’t intended to be so loud, or maybe the silence of the forest exacerbated her small cry of despair.

“You need your strength,” Mrs. Potter said. “I know it tastes awful, but it is the best we can do.” Mrs. Potter patted Lara’s arm encouragingly and moved on to comfort and reassure the other girls huddled in a circle on logs around their campfire.

As she watched the older woman interact with the others, Lara fought against despondency.

A week before, her life had been idyllic, filled with anticipation and hope. The fall semester of her senior year in college and prospects loomed brightly for Lara. A member of the college social committee, teaching assistant for the most popular professor on campus, and a supportive family helping her to plan her future.

Yes, life was working out even better than she could have imagined.

And then one day when she was heading back to the dorm after class—a day just like any other, the sun sparkling brightly in the clear blue sky—the ground started shaking. At first, she didn’t think it was anything unusual, but in a matter of seconds the gentle rumble morphed into a violent tumult. Trees swayed like wheat fields on a windy day and buildings cracked and crumbled. Terrified students screamed and ran in all directions. Amidst the chaos, Lara’s thoughts turned to Armageddon.

Remembering that week’s chapel service on The Last Days, she couldn’t help but wonder, was this it?

While others scattered in search of shelter, Lara had been frozen in place, dumbstruck by the chaos around her.

Miraculously, she had survived.

Nearly everyone else on campus had not.

In the seven days since the earthquake that destroyed their college, and as far as they knew, possibly everything and everyone in the nation, Mrs. Potter was the only member of their group who had not succumbed to the utter misery that had overtaken the band of survivors. Lara assumed it was an act meant to keep their spirits up. What else could it be? As their house mother, Mrs. Potter no doubt continued to feel responsible for her girls even though guiding the troop of terrified students into the woods for miles was well beyond her job duties.

Lara forced herself to take another sip and did her best not to pull a face. There was no point in complaining. They all needed to keep their wits about them if they were going to survive, though if this was what survival felt like, she wasn’t so sure she cared to continue.

The sun glinted through the trees. They did their cooking during the day and doused the flames before darkness fell in order to avoid drawing undue attention to themselves, although they had not encountered any other humans in the past seven days—at least none that were alive. Lara shuddered at the memory of mangled bodies in the rubble of their dormitory. Still, if they had lived, it made sense that others likely had as well.

Including Lara and Mrs. Potter, there were a total of seven who had survived the earthquake. Once the dust had settled and it was clear there were no other living beings, the shaken group had foraged through the ruins for as many supplies as they could carry. In retrospect, they had chosen poorly in many instances. None of them had any experience in roughing it. Bringing their electronics along had seemed wise at the time, but it quickly became evident that all communication across the country had halted. Whether from technical problems or due to the deaths of all who might run the systems, Lara dared not ponder.

Mrs. Potter insisted they eat a hot meal each day, even if that consisted of a putrid soup made from stream water they boiled endlessly before adding roots and herbs they gathered in the woods. In the past, Lara had rolled her eyes whenever Mrs. Potter talked about the healing powers of herbs, but now she was grateful for the older woman’s knowledge and kindly spirit. She hated to consider what might have happened to the ragtag group of girls if Mrs. Potter had not been around to take charge.

Scanning those around the fire, she considered the young women who were now her only companions in a world that, for all they knew, was completely unpopulated.

Shawna and Kimber sat a bit apart from the rest. They’d been roommates since their first year on campus. Lara had lived across the hall from them and envied their instant camaraderie. In this hell-hole that their lives had become, she envied them even more. She wished she had a best friend amongst the group.

In a twist of fate, which she had not allowed herself to dwell upon for more than a fleeting moment here and there, Lara’s best friend and roommate, Misty, had been killed when their dormitory collapsed, while the roommate she’d been assigned as a firstie, Brittany, had survived.

Lara had instantly known she and Brittany were not a good match, but she’d given it a few weeks hoping things would change. They had, for the worse. Despite their obvious incompatibility, Brittany had not taken Lara’s decision to move out well. The two had barely spoken in the three years since.

And now they had to rely upon each other for their very existence.

Lara glanced at the final member of their little tribe, Katie, and smiled. In the midst of despair, Katie made her feel better. Chubby and cheerful, she had joked and tried to keep their spirits up as they trudged through the dense woods.

Ooops. She’d forgotten about Grace. The quiet girl was seated on a stump behind the rest of them, head bowed over a Bible.

They washed up their dishes and doused the fire, then each went to their preferred sleeping area and bedded down as best they could on the forest floor.

Lara had the first watch. Armed with a sturdy tree branch and a blanket around her shoulders, she sat on a stump on the edge of their encampment staring into the darkening woods. Keeping watch provided her with time to think while the others were quiet, even if they were not sleeping.

Much as Mrs. Potter attempted to buoy their spirits with talk of finding others and possibly an area that had not been destroyed, Lara had seen too much death and destruction to pin her hopes on such fantasies. As far as she could tell, they were doomed. In the few days they’d been homeless, the nighttime temperatures had already begun to drop. It seemed that since the earthquake the weather patterns had been totally disrupted and what ought to have been warm fall weather had become uncommonly cool. If they didn’t die of starvation, they’d eventually freeze to death.

Mrs. Potter was clearly their leader and she’d done a good job. However, Lara believed they needed to be more aggressive about leaving the woods and seeing who or what they might find beyond the dark, damp forest. Mrs. Potter believed they were safer hiding in the trees.

Maybe it was safer, but how long could they survive on roots and berries, especially with winter approaching?

Despite the complete destruction of their entire community, Solomon Miller and his sons rose before the sun as they always had and broke their fast around the large family dining room table.

Caleb, the second eldest, glanced around the room, still amazed that their house stood after the earthquake. Had it been divine intervention that a wall of their storm cellar had collapsed the day before the devastation hit so that when the mighty quake happened, all seven members of the family had been below ground making repairs?

When their father decided it was safe to exit the storm cellar and the men saw that their house and barn were intact, they assumed everyone in their sect had been as fortunate. Perhaps the tremor had sounded worse than it really was. Sadly, they were wrong. The three eldest sons, Daniel, Caleb, and Gabriel, had been dispatched in the wagon to check on their friends. They had not been prepared for the horror of seeing the home of their nearest neighbors collapsed into a heap of splintered wood. They had searched the debris of the whole farm hoping to find a sign of life, but all of the Stolzhaus family had been lost.

Determined to find life amidst the ruin, the three brothers had spent the entire day traveling from farmstead to farmstead desperately searching for their friends and family. Finally, when nightfall made additional travel perilous, they returned home to share the shocking news with their father and brothers.

The Miller family had been through many difficult times, most significantly the death of their dear mother a few years earlier when she had given birth late in life to a much longed for daughter. The wee babe did not outlive her birthday and both were buried together in the family plot.

In the years since, the boys had matured, each taking on household duties. Many a young lass had offered services to the handsome family, but all had been politely rebuffed. Solomon’s widowed sister, Agnes, had moved in with the family to take on the womanly chores. When the earthquake hit she had been in Ohio visiting relatives. In the years since their mother’s passing, the Miller boys had become quite fond of their aunt Agnes and though none of them had spoken aloud of their concerns for her, they held out hope that she was safe, wherever she was.

Despite the care provided by Aunt Agnes, the Miller men were able to fend for themselves. Solomon encouraged independence and competence in his boys and if that meant Benjamin could bake a pie worthy of a county fair ribbon and Caleb’s hands were red and raw from doing the laundry, then so be it. Others in their community believed Solomon to be a bit too progressive in his ideas of the roles of men and women and he had been brought before the elders to explain himself. Shortly thereafter Aunt Agnes had come to live with them. Still, Solomon insisted that his sons continue their training in household chores, not wishing to burden his sister with the entire weight of caring for six growing sons.

However, Caleb couldn’t help but wonder how life might have been different if he had taken a wife. Though they had a sturdy roof over their heads, a stocked larder, crops in the field, and even a few remaining animals, a future where he and his brothers grew old together without any hope of families of their own loomed as a grim prospect.

None of them had spoken of the future, but Caleb knew his brothers well enough to recognize that their thoughts were similar to his own. He loved his father and brothers, but yearned to lead his own family. He’d spent the last year building a house for himself on a distant corner of the family property. His plan had been to set about courting a proper wife once he had a home to bring her to. Who could have predicted the events of the last seven days? If he’d had any idea, he would have changed his priorities. A few small tasks remained until the house would be complete, but the work seemed pointless now. When the earthquake was over, he had been surprised to see his unfinished house had withstood the mighty tremor.

Much of life seemed pointless.

The meal ended and the brothers, all save Benjamin who stayed behind to tend to the kitchen, headed out for a day of chores.

Caleb paused when he stepped inside the barn. He glanced at the draft horses, Abraham and Sarah, noting the irony that the horse had a mate while he, their master, did not. Sensing something wrong, he held still and surveyed the interior of the building. The usually sedate beasts pawed the straw in their stalls and swished their tails. It could be nothing. All the animals, and humans, had been on edge since the earthquake.

Curious, he walked as quietly as a six foot tall Amish man in work boots could toward the stall and peered in.